The Accuracy of Blood Pressure Measurement by Two Cuff-Less Wearable and Portable Health Devices

Authors

Dylan M. Bard, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Noud van Helmond, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Christina Hahnen, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Nilanjan Haldar, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Cecilia Freeman, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Jacquelyn N. Hamati, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Vignesh Murali, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Jeffrey I. Joseph, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

2-2019

Academic Year

2018-2019

Comments

Poster attached as supplemental file below.

Abstract

Introduction: Wearable and portable devices that claim to measure blood pressure without the need of a cuff are becoming increasingly popular among consumers. Given that hypertension is the leading cause for cardiovascular mortality worldwide, a portable technology that allows consumers to easily measure their BP several times a day would be of great value. However, the convenience that portable health technology provides is useless, and even dangerous, if the measurements are inaccurate.

Objective: Investigate the accuracy of two popular commercial cuff-less BP device, the Bodimetrics Performance Monitor and Everlast TR10 watch.

Methods: A sample of 127 ambulatory patients (>18y) were recruited from the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Preadmission Testing Center. Following the 2013 ANSI/AAMI/ISO standard protocol for evaluating non-invasive automated sphygmomanometers, four reference and three investigational BP measurements were obtained after a five minute initial rest period. Reference measurements were taken with the validated Cardiocap 5 sphygmomanometer.

Results: 85 subjects met inclusion criteria. The average absolute differences (SD) between the Everlast watch and reference were 22.7 (27.4) mmHg for SBP and 6.9 (6.2) mmHg for DBP. The average absolute difference (SD) between the BodiMetrics Performance Monitor and the reference was 5.3 (4.7) mmHg for systolic BP.

Discussion: The Everlast fitness watch tested is not accurate enough to be used as BP measurement device. The Bodimetrics device was more accurate, likely due to calibration immediately prior to validation, but even with this advantage the BP device failed to meet accuracy guidelines. Widespread use of this technology likely results in the misclassification of patients’ BP status.

Recommended Citation

Bard, Dylan M.; van Helmond, Noud; Hahnen, Christina; Haldar, Nilanjan; Freeman, Cecilia G.; Hamati, Jacquelyn N.; Murali, Vignesh; and Joseph, Jeffrey I., "The Accuracy of Blood Pressure Measurement by Two Cuff-Less Wearable and Portable Health Devices" (2019). SKMC JeffMD Scholarly Inquiry, Phase 1, Project 1.

Language

English